Coming Back to Bite
by Once.Evil.Regal
Summary: Olivia's job makes it hard for her to have a personal life-at least that's her story. But when her past shows up unexpectedly, the real story comes out. Can she hold herself together long enough to sort out what REALLY happened? Some E/O moments
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**So here it is, the first chapter of my new story. I'm a little worried about posting this; my other story was such a success that I'm a little worried this one won't stand up to it. But even if it's not quite as good, I think everyone'll really like it. It starts off with a lot of personal stuff with Liv, very little detective work, but trust me - it gets better. Anyway, read on and enjoy!**

"No, No, I'm not going in there!"

"Shoulda thought o' that before you raped a little girl," Fin said, dragging the suspect into the squadroom.

"I didn't do it!" He put his hands up over his face as he entered the squadroom, now hiding his face rather than digging his heels into the ground. Fin shook his head and stopped. Lake tried to pull the man's hands away from his face, "You don't get the luxury of privacy here."

"What's this guy's story?" Elliot asked. He and Olivia were both watching the spectacle with amusement.

"Guy raped a little girl. Says he's innocent, but we all know that's bull," Fin said, he and Lake both giving up trying to pry the guy's hands away.

Elliot walked over, leaning close to his face, "What's the matter, afraid of the big bad detectives?"

The man just stood there, his hands over his face. Olivia watched as Fin finally gave in and just dragged the guy to the interrogation room. When he came back out, they were smiling. "Put his head down on the table, said he's shy. Started fiddling with this." Fin held up a chain with a beautiful diamond ring on it.

"Is it real?" Elliot asked. Olivia glanced up from her paperwork but she barely noticed the ring.

"Looks like, but what do I know?" Fin said, handing it to Elliot.

"Hey Liv, check this out," Elliot said.

"You think I can tell you if it's real?" Olivia said, smiling.

Elliot shrugged, "You never know."

Olivia stood up and walked over, more out of curiosity than anything. She knew she couldn't tell if it was real or fake, but she wanted to see it close up. She took the ring from Elliot and froze, staring fixedly at it. It was a delicate white gold band with 3 gorgeous sapphire stones in it.

"Yo, earth to Liv," Fin said, waving a hand between her and the ring.

She blinked and looked up them, handing the ring quickly to Lake. "It's real," she said breathlessly. She turned and walked away, heading for the locker room so she could be alone.

"What was that about?" Lake asked.

"Dunno," Elliot said, following Olivia.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Hey, what was that?" Elliot asked when he entered the locker room. Olivia was pacing back and forth, rubbing her hands together as she often did when she was anxious or nervous about something.

"What? Nothing," she said casually, shaking her head.

"Bullshit. What was so special about that ring?"

"Nothing. Really." She walked past Elliot and left him standing alone in the locker room, his eyes narrowed in an expression of confusion and suspicion. Finally he shook his head and left the room.

Olivia and Elliot both had paperwork to finish. Elliot wanted to know what had caused Olivia to act so strangely, but he knew pushing the issue would just make her angry, and she was already irritated at being put on desk duty until she finished her paperwork. So he kept his mouth shut and decided he would get it out of her later.

After almost three hours of interrogating the suspect, Fin and Lake came out of the interrogation room and walked over to Liv's desk. "He says he won't tell us anything until he talks to you," Lake said.

"Too bad," Olivia said, not looking up at Lake.

That was very unlike Olivia. Elliot couldn't imagine what would make her turn down an interrogation in favour of paperwork. Whatever had happened to her when she saw that ring, it had something to do with their suspect, Elliot was sure of it. "Liv, you have to."

"You know what? I really don't."

"The bastard raped a 4 year old, Liv. If we have to drag you in there kicking and screaming to get his confession, we'll do it," Lake said. Olivia was surprised by the coldness of his voice. She didn't really like Lake; not because of anything he did but just because they didn't click, but she had never had a problem with him, and she'd never heard him sound so cold.

She stood up, glaring at Lake for a minute, then got up and headed for the interrogation room, pausing at the door to take a deep breath. Fin, Lake and Elliot all stood on the other side of the two-way mirror, eager to watch. Elliot hoped he could figure out what Olivia's issue was.

Travis Sidlick had been seen at the park frequently where witnesses had claimed to have seen him talking to the young girl, Samantha Marino. Her mother suspected something was wrong and, through some coaxing with a psychiatrist, had gotten her to open up about being molested. They didn't have a rape kit, but her description matched several other young girls' stories. Travis was an alcoholic and looked old, tired, and washed up. It wasn't surprising given his alcohol abuse.

"Wow," Travis said when Olivia entered the room. She didn't sit down, just stood as far from him as possible with her arms crossed. "I'd almost forgotten what you look like. You're even more beautiful than I remember."

"They have history?" Fin asked.

Elliot shrugged, "Guess so."

"What do you want, Travis?" Olivia's voice was ice cold.

"I just want to talk," he said.

"Good. Tell me what about Samantha."

"I don't want to talk about that, I want to talk about you."

"You don't get to choose what we talk about."

"Then I'm not talking at all." He crossed his arms and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair.

"You have some nerve using this as an excuse to talk to me. What the hell are you even doing in New York?" Olivia said, sitting down across the table from Travis.

"It's as much my home as it is yours, Liv. You can't keep me out of the city just because you want it all to yourself."

"Why'd you hide your face when you came in?"

"I knew you worked here, and I didn't want you to see me. I didn't think I could face you. But I changed my mind. You owe me an explanation and I'm here to collect."

"I don't owe you anything," Olivia said angrily.

"You disappeared, without a word, what the hell was I supposed to think?"

"You sure didn't race off to find me."

"I thought you needed your space."

"For nearly 20 years? That's an awful lot of space, Travis."

"Tell me the truth, you didn't want to see me ever again, did you?"

Olivia paused, then looked straight into his eyes and said, "No. I didn't." She got up and left the room.

**Okay, so a lot is going on with Liv right now, clearly. But I promise, this story is about a lot more than just Liv's personal issues, I've got a pretty interesting story floating around in my head with another chilling 'bad guy'. Updates might be a little slow for a while cause I have to make sure everything works before I post it, and I'm trying to coordinate certain events with another fanfic I'm writing, so be patient! Oh, and I need some help from everyone rading this. The room attached to the interrogation room, where Cragen and Huang usually stand to keep an eye on the detectives, is there a specific name for that room? I need to know cause I mention it a few times in the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**So far it's 9 chapters and nowhere near being finished, so hopefully it'll go on for a while. And I think I've decided to make it E/O, since I seem so inclined to include cute little E/O moments everywhere. But it's gonna be minor, since I HATE when E/O takes over a good story. Anyway, here ya go, enjoy!**

"What's the deal with this guy?" Fin asked Olivia. They had all been watching intently in the viewing room as Olivia and Travis talked to each other, and they followed her when she left.

"Nothing," Olivia said, sitting down.

"That's bull, we all know it," Elliot said, crossing his arms.

"It's not bull, it was me politely telling you that it's none of your business, but apparently you don't take a hint." Olivia sat down at her desk and continued with her paperwork.

"We need him to tell us what happened and he's not going to until he talks to you," Lake said.

"What, so you can all get the juicy details on my past? I don't think so."

"I don't get it. What happened between you two to make you turn your back on a kid just so you won't have to talk to him?" Elliot asked, shaking his head.

Olivia was on her feet in a flash, her face so close to Elliot's that he took an involuntary step back. "Don't you dare throw that in my face! You have no idea!" She screamed at him. Then she stormed off, grabbing her coat and leaving the precinct altogether. Everyone was stunned.

"What's all the yelling about?" Cragen asked, coming out of his office just in time to see Olivia disappear out the door. "Where's she going?"

"Perp really got to her," Elliot said dismissively, sitting down at his desk. It was always hard to deal with cases involving kids. He'd rather have Cragen think the case was getting to Olivia than know about her history with the perp. Fin and Lake went back to their own work without a word.

"She better get her ass back here soon, I can't have both of my best detectives on desk duty forever."

"I'm gonna go see if I can find her. I'll be back soon, cap," Elliot said, putting on his coat.

"Go ahead. But I want you chained to that desk when you get back."

Elliot left and headed to the café where Olivia usually went for tea when she needed to clear her head. He smiled when he saw her sitting at her usual booth in the back corner. He knew her so well. He slid in across from her and just sat there, breaking the silence only when the waitress came to pour him coffee.

"What do you want, El?" Olivia finally asked.

He shrugged, "Figured you could use some company."

"Bullshit. You want answers and you figured if Fin and Lake weren't around I'd give them to you." She knew him so well.

"I figured you'd want to open up to somebody you can trust," he corrected her.

"Just because you spin it to sound good doesn't change what it really is," she said, smiling.

He shrugged again, "Fine, I won't ask anymore. You'll tell me eventually."

"You smug son of a bitch." But she laughed when she said it. Elliot smiled, his expression matching the smugness in his tone. "We should head back. There's a mountain of paperwork waiting for us."

"All the more reason to stay here." But he followed her anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**So as you can see I've decided to call it the viewing room for the purposes of this story. Dunno if that's really what it's called, but w/e, it's just a small part of a fan fic. And I've also decided that while there's gonna be a lot of E/O cuteness, I just wrote a scene that may anger E/O shippers. Please don't hurt me. I'm only a writer. Lol, hope this doesn't deter anyone (I think it's cute, but I'm not a shipper, so I dunno). Enjoy!**

"Finally! Finished." Olivia said. She'd been working for 4 hours straight and she desperately needed an aspirin. She hated paperwork. She tried telling herself that if she left it for later it would just keep piling up until she had hours of work to do, and after days like this she always promised herself she would stop putting it off, but she knew it would never happen.

"I still have another two hour's worth here at least. How do you get through it so fast?" Elliot asked.

"Raw determination and an iron will," Olivia smiled, "I laugh in the face of carpal tunnel."

Elliot laughed and shook his head at the cheesy joke. Olivia went to her locker and grabbed a bottle of water and two aspirin, downing them both in one gulp. Then she closed her locker and looked over at the interrogation room. Fin and Lake were still in there with Travis. They'd taken turns coming out for a few minutes at a time, but they were both determined to break him. Without reliable statements from the victims or rape kits they had to rely on Travis to tell them what they needed to know. She felt a twinge of guilt thinking about all those little girls. But she knew talking to Travis wouldn't do any good, he had no intention of telling Olivia about those girls. Seeing his appearance and knowing about his history of alcohol abuse, Olivia wondered how much he would even remember of the attacks.

Just as Olivia was heading back to her desk, Fin and Lake both left the interrogation room. "No luck?" Elliot asked them.

"All he has to say is he wants to talk to Olivia," Lake said, somewhat bitterly.

"He's never gonna say anything," Olivia said.

"Just wish we could find out for sure," Fin said.

"You already know what I'm gonna say, Fin. Let it go. No matter what I say to him he's not going to confess."

"You don't know that," Munch said. He had arrived at the precinct while Elliot and Olivia were out and Fin had filled him in on everything that had happened with Olivia and Travis.

"Yes, I do."

Everyone was silent as Cragen stepped out of his office and looked at Fin and Lake. "You get a confession?"

"No. All he can say is he's innocent and he wants to talk to Olivia." Olivia glared at Lake. She knew what was coming next and she was pissed.

"Well get in there, then," Cragen said to Olivia, seeing the stack of finished paperwork on her desk.

"I've already been in there, he's not interested in telling me anything."

"How long were you in there?" Cragen had a lot of work to do and suddenly felt a little out of the loop, something he tried very hard to prevent usually.

"Long enough," Olivia said.

"Get in there, detective. Now."

Olivia hesitated. She couldn't go against Cragen's direct orders, but she didn't think she could face Travis again. In the end she stood up and headed into the interrogation room. Everyone piled into the viewing room as if they were scrambling to get seats at a once in a lifetime show. Cragen followed, wondering what could be interesting enough to drag all of his detectives away from their work. He should have told them to get back to work, but his own curiosity had taken over. He felt like he was having a very off day, but he didn't care at that moment.

"I hope you're happy, getting me shoved in here against my will," Olivia said angrily, sitting down across from Travis.

"If that's what it takes, then yeah, I'm happy."

"What do you want, Travis?"

"I already told you; I want to talk."

"I don't."

"You don't have much of a choice, do you?" Olivia was silent, so Travis continued, "You broke my heart, Liv."

"Boo hoo," she said tonelessly.

"I get that you were upset, you had a right to be. But your reaction was a little extreme, don't you think? You just threw everything away. I don't get it."

"You think I overreacted? Are you kidding me? You expected me to stick around after _that_?"

"You blame me for it."

"It was your fault. You timed everything perfectly just to screw with him."

"You wouldn't have come back if you really believed that. It didn't have to end that way."

"You blame _me_? You son of a bitch!"

"I'm just trying to say that we both made mistakes. I don't blame anybody but him."

"Him? How can you blame him?"

"He's the one who made the final choice. Not me, not you, not anybody else. It's because of him that everything is so screwed up, and you know it."

"He was in pain!" Olivia was on her feet, her eyes brimming with tears. She shook her head slowly and left the room.

Everyone stood there for a minute, stunned, then Elliot pushed his way out the door and followed Olivia. She was in the crib, her face buried in her hands, struggling to hold in her tears. Elliot sat down across from her, putting a comforting hand on her knee. She shook her head, but Elliot didn't move his hand and she didn't care.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**In order for this chapter to make sense, I'm going to have to cut something out of Olivia's past that every good SVU fan knows is there. So for the purpose of this story, since it's just fan fic and it doesn't really matter, the episode Intoxicated never happened.**

"You were right," Olivia said when she finally put her hands down.

"About what?" Elliot asked.

"I knew I'd end up telling you eventually."

"I figured."

"Keep up that smug tone and I'll never tell you."

"I'm not smug, I just know you."

"Travis was my fiancée."

"That guy?" Elliot said, barely believing what he'd just heard.

"In my defence he used to be really cute. And he never used to drink, not even for fun on occasion. He was a really great guy."

"So the ring…"

"Was my engagement ring, yeah."

"And he hid his face because he knew you'd be here, and he didn't want you to recognize him right away."

Olivia nodded, avoiding Elliot's gaze. They were silent for a while. Elliot wanted to ask more questions, but he knew Olivia needed to time to sort things out in her head. She would tell him when she was ready, and he needed to be patient.

"I told you a was mostly a wallflower in school, but that's not really true. I had a small group of friends all trough elementary school and high school. It was me, Travis, Christy and Matt joined us in eighth grade. I remember we couldn't believe he was our age, he had a full beard." She laughed, her eyes slightly glazed as she thought back to the first time she saw him. Then she shook her head and continued, "Travis and Christy were really popular, which made Matt and I popular by association, but we both kept out of the spotlight as much as possible. I didn't want anyone finding out about my mom and he had issues with his dad. Travis and Christy knew, of course, but none of us cared much about anybody outside of our group, certainly not enough to give away secrets like that. Travis was must my first boyfriend, but we were really young and we had no idea how to turn our friendship into a relationship, so that didn't work out. Matt and Christy dated, I guess cause they thought they should, but they always looked more like bother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend."

She paused, smiling a little at the thought of them all, barely even teenagers. Olivia really didn't have friends other than the detectives she worked with, and she missed it a lot. "I had a few boyfriends in ninth and tenth grade, but I didn't really have feelings for any of them. Then I started dating Curtis. He was Travis's twin brother. Fraternal twins, it would have been too creepy if they were identical. I couldn't believe they were even brothers, never mind twins, they were polar opposites of each other. Travis was a little pissed at first, but he got over it pretty quick. Curtis and I did practically everything together, and when he wasn't around I drove everyone nuts talking non-stop about him."

Elliot suspected Curtis was the one Olivia and Travis had been talking about, but he didn't say anything. "After about a year and a half, though, I just didn't have any feelings for him anymore. He was still head over heels for me, though, and I still loved being with him, so I couldn't bring myself to break up with him. I thought about it a lot, I didn't want to keep stringing him along, but it was just so comfortable, so safe, I couldn't give that up. I knew Curtis wanted to study photography, and I sort of hoped the relationship would just end on its own when we went to college. I'd miss out on more than a year of dating, but I wasn't interested in anyone, anyway. Pretty immature of me, huh?"

"You're entitled to a little immaturity in high school," Elliot said, smiling comfortingly.

"One day Travis and I got paired up for a science project and he invited me over to his house to work on it. I didn't even give it a second though; he was one of my best friends, I'd been to his house a thousand times without Curtis. But when I got there, Travis said he didn't feel like working. When I asked him what he felt like doing he…"

"He kissed you," Elliot guessed when she paused.

Olivia nodded, "The timing couldn't have been shittier. Curtis walked by just as he leaned in. I didn't even have time to push him away before Curtis shouted at us. Before I could even open my mouth to explain he ran off. I went after him, and we talked. He didn't believe me when I said I didn't have feelings for Travis. He asked me if I still had feelings for him, and I couldn't lie to him, so I said no. It really hurt him; he could barely look at me for weeks. Travis asked me several times to go out with him, saying he was sorry for what had happened with Curtis, but I was too angry at him to listen to anything he said."

"Did he do it on purpose?" Elliot couldn't resist asking.

"I don't know. I really doubt it. Travis was always really cocky, but he wasn't a win-at-all-costs kind of guy. He wouldn't have done something like that to his brother or me. Still, it's hard not to blame him. It's easier…"

"Than blaming yourself," Elliot said. Olivia nodded.

"I really didn't want to kiss him, I pushed him away, I would have slapped him if I hadn't rushed after Curtis. Still, though, it was hard not to feel guilty. It really did feel good to kiss him. I hadn't felt like that while kissing Curtis for a long time."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yes, I do. About 5 months after everything happened, Curtis talked to me. He said he knew Travis really liked me and that I should go for it. He insisted his feelings for me were gone and that he didn't resent Travis anymore. It took me a while to accept what he said as the truth, but about a month later I finally agreed to go out with Travis. We were head over heels for each other almost instantly, and he proposed to me at his after grad party. He had the whole basement set up for just the two of us. It was really beautiful. The engagement ring was perfect. He knew I preferred white gold to yellow and I told him once in passing conversation that I'd rather have a coloured stone than a diamond. I couldn't wait to tell everyone."

Olivia was talking about the proposal sadly, and Elliot's heart ached for her. No woman should have to remember her marriage proposal with such sadness, it was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. He wondered what had made it such a sad occasion. After a long pause, he found out. "The next day Travis called his family and we arranged for a dinner at his grandparents' house. I decided to tell my mom myself later. We invited Christy and Matt, too, and Curtis was there, of course. We announced our engagement just before dessert. We spent the rest of the night celebrating. Curtis slipped out early, but none of us noticed. We all spent the night because by the time we realized how late it was, none of us wanted to drive home and there was plenty enough room for everyone. We woke up to the sound of the doorbell. I heard someone get up to answer it, but I was too tired to open my eyes and I didn't care enough to bother, anyway. But then I heard Travis's mom crying hysterically and his dad nearly tripped over me rushing to the door. Travis rushed out, too. When he came back he was on the verge of tears. He told me Curtis had snuck into a bar to get wasted."

"Oh, Liv…" Elliot knew what was coming.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Olivia wiped away the tears that had started to fall again. "He turned into oncoming traffic. The truck didn't have any time to stop."

She started to sob and Elliot moved to sit beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry. He'd seen Olivia upset before, but never like this. It was almost a relief to finally see her let her emotions out. She was always so strong, Elliot sometimes worried her bottled up emotions would explode and no one would be there to help her. He was glad he was there to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Elliot," Olivia said, sitting up and wiping away her tears.

"Don't be. You don't ever have to apologize for being human, Olivia. I'm just glad you finally let it out."

"Don't you mean you're glad you got the juicy secret out of me before anyone else?" Olivia said, smiling.

"Of course." Elliot grinned at her. The time for being serious was over; he could sense that. Olivia needed to joke with him now and he was happy to help her.

"Olivia, in my office," Cragen said when he saw Olivia.

Olivia sighed and followed her captain into his office. When she closed the door, Cragen spoke, "You know that guy?"

"Yeah." There was no point in denying it, she decided.

"It doesn't look good for one of my detectives to have a personal relation with a suspect."

"It was a long time ago, captain. We had bitter falling out and he's pissed about it, that's all."

"It doesn't sound like that to me. Just stay away from him. I don't want you working this case but another little girl just came forward, and I need everyone working to together to get this guy. I want you and Elliot to interview her. But Olivia, be careful, I want you at arms length on this case."

"No problem." Olivia left the room and told Elliot about the little girl they were supposed to be interviewing.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

"Amanda, do you like to play at the park a lot?" Olivia asked the little girl. So far everything was going well. Amanda seemed happy to open up to Olivia. Elliot stayed out of the room as usual, letting Amanda and Olivia connect one on one.

"Yes. Annie takes me there every day."

"And what do you like to do at the park?"

"Play on the swings, they're my favourite. What's your favourite?"

"The swings are my favourite, too." Olivia knew it was important to take the interview slowly so they could get as much information as possible without really upsetting Amanda. "So when you go to the park is there someone you like to play with?"

"I always find friends to play with," Amanda said cheerfully.

"Amanda, have you ever seen a man at the park?"

"Yes, there are lots of daddies at the park."

"Have you ever talked to a man at the park?"

"Yes, I threw my ball over the fence and a man gave it back to me. He said I should be more careful. He played catch with me, he was really funny."

"How many times did you see this man?"

Amanda scrunched her face in concentration, then said, "I dunno, lots of times."

"Do you know his name?"

She giggled, "I called him Mr. Scruffy."

"Why did you call him that?" Olivia said, smiling, keeping her tone light.

"Annie said he looked like a scruffy dog and I told him. He said I should call him Mr. Scruffy." She laughed again.

"Can you tell me what he looked like?"

"His hair is really messy. And he has messy hair on his face, too. His clothes look all dirty, but he smells good, kinda like my daddy. My clothes always smell bad when they're dirty." She spoke as if it was some great mystery she just couldn't figure out. Olivia smiled despite the situation.

"Did Mr. Scruffy ever ask you things like your name, where you live, where you go to school?"

"Yes, he asked me what my name is."

"And what did you say?"

She laughed, "Silly, you know my name!"

Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "I know, but did you tell him your last name?"

"No."

"And you didn't tell him about your school or where you live?"

"I told him about my friends and about my mommy and daddy. Is that bad?" She looked up at Olivia, worried.

"No, of course not. Amanda, did you ever see the man outside the park?"

"No."

"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?"

Amanda nodded. Olivia took her hand and led her back to the SVU squadroom and into the room attached to the interrogation room where Travis was still sitting on a 24 hour hold. "Mr. Scruffy!" Amanda said as soon as she saw him.

"Doesn't prove anything, she has nothing but fond memories of him," Elliot said once they Amanda had left with her parents.

"I wanna talk to him," Olivia said.

Elliot looked at her, stunned. "Are you sure?"

"I really don't think he did this, El."

"It's been 20 years, Olivia, people change."

"You don't believe pedophiles can change."

"No, but maybe he could control his urges until losing you set him off." Elliot kept his voice down, knowing that everyone was listening.

"I'll be fine, Elliot." She walked into the interrogation room and sat down.

**So far it's 11 chapters, but there's still plenty more to come. Click the little purple button and let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Couldn't stay away?"

"You're facing some pretty serious charges, Travis."

"You always did have a real one track mind. I don't really care what I'm facing. I'm innocent."

"I wanna believe that."

"Wouldn't it make it easier for you to be mad at me if I actually did something wrong?"

"I don't want to be mad at you."

"Right. You just want to blame me for the past." He rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Scruffy." Olivia smirked.

"You talked to Amanda?" Travis looked worried. "Why?"

"She was attacked. By the same man who attacked those other girls."

"She was attacked?" Travis looked horrified.

"You didn't molest those girls, Travis."

"Well, nice to know someone around here can actually do their job," he said, leaning back in his chair again, his expression relaxed.

"I know why you were at the park."

"Good for you."

"Why'd you come back here? You love Chicago."

"I dunno. Once I got fired from my job there was nothing left for me there. I was hoping I could come here, maybe start fresh."

"You came back here to start _fresh_?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not _fresh_, but I thought a could find some meaning here. Something worth sticking around for. My life really fell apart when you left. I managed to keep it together, finish med school, get a good job, but my drinking got pretty bad until I finally got fired."

"You went to the park to watch the kids."

"It's the one thing around here that actually gives me some hope. Turns out I can't even do that without people thinking I'm a pedophile. A grown man can't find pleasure in watching children play unless he's jerking off apparently," he said miserably.

"I'm sorry, Travis."

"You mean you pity me because I'm miserable or you're sorry for _making_ me miserable?"

"Both."

"Why didn't you ever call?"

"Why didn't you? You obviously knew I was here."

"I wasn't the one who ran away. I was the one who got rejected. I didn't want to feel that again."

"I couldn't deal with it, Travis. I needed to get away from you. Every time I saw you I saw him."

"You know what I needed to help me through it?"

"What?"

"You. But that didn't really matter to you, did it?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's late. Go home, get some sleep." Travis crossed his arms and looked out the window. He didn't want to talk anymore.

Olivia sighed and left the room. "Let him go," she said to Fin, grabbing her coat off the back of her chair.

"You want a ride home?" Elliot offered.

"I'll walk."

"You shouldn't walk home alone," Munch said

"I could use an excuse to pepper spray someone." She smiled and left.

"Someone had a rough day," Fin said.

Elliot grabbed his coat and rushed out after Olivia. He didn't like the idea of her walking home alone, even if it pissed her off. He was surprised when he caught up to her and she didn't say a word to him, didn't even acknowledge his presence. He followed her lead and kept his mouth shut. He expected it to be awkward, her resentment towards him like a solid barrier between them, but it was actually a comfortable silence.

When they reached Olivia's apartment building she turned to face Elliot. "Thanks."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Alright, here's what we know so far: The girls are lured away from the park by a small dog, driven around in a van, raped, and then dropped off again near the park, where they rejoin their parents. None of the girls can tell us anything about him. So far all of the girls have been reunited with their parents without a scratch on them, claiming to have just wandered off. There's probably a lot more victims than have actually come forward. Celia Moroe, 5 years old, was found just outside the park, unconscious. She's in a coma, severe head trauma. Parents consented to a rape kit, we'll get the DNA results from Warner soon." Lake filled Olivia and Elliot in on the case.

"Are we sure this is the same guy?" Munch asked.

"Witnesses say they saw her following a small dog away from the park. We don't know for sure, but it's probably our guy," Fin said.

"Warner just called, she's got something. Elliot, Olivia, go talk to her."

"What've you got?" Olivia asked when they walked into the ME's office.

"The sperm from the rape kit wasn't fresh," Warner said, leading them over to a microscope.

Olivia looked into the microscope. "It was frozen." She'd seen in once before on a case.

"Yes. I'd say whoever did this planted the sperm on the victim."

"Where would the perp have gotten this?" Elliot asked.

"I'll let you figure that out. I got a DNA hit off the sperm; Travis Sidlick."

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

"Someone is trying to set him up. They knew he was at the park everyday, they kept an eye on him, targeted girls he's been seen talking to. You heard Warner, the sperm was planted," Olivia said.

"We still have to talk to him, see if anyone's got a reason to frame him," Cragen said. He wasn't happy to have Olivia on the cast at all, he was worried she was too close to it, but he needed his two best detectives on the case.

"You guys can handle it, right?" Olivia asked, talking mostly to Lake, Fin and Munch. They all nodded. "I need some coffee, I'll be back soon."

"I'll go with you." Elliot grabbed his coat and followed Olivia outside.

"This really isn't fair," Olivia said, when they were a block away from the precinct.

"What do you mean?"

"Couldn't he have come back into my life without being a suspected child molester? Why can't I have one tiny little aspect of my life that has nothing to do with work?"

"We all have dysfunctional personal lives. It comes with the job."

"At least you found someone to be with before you started the job. I was doomed to be alone the second I stepped foot in SVU."

"You're not doomed to be alone."

"All evidence to the contrary, but I appreciate you lying on my behalf."

"That guy is staring at you." Elliot had stopped and was staring at someone across the street.

"Well it's nice to know I still have a few first dates left in me," Olivia said, tugging Elliot's arm to get him going again, but he didn't move.

"Seriously, he's just standing there…staring."

Olivia followed Elliot's gaze and her eyes locked with the eyes of a man across the busy street. Olivia thought there was something familiar about him, but she didn't recognize him. Suddenly he broke their connection to look out at the traffic. He dashed across the street like an expert New Yorker and Olivia took a step closer to Elliot. She thought the man looked a little too eager to get to her.

"Olivia, is that really you?" He said, looking amazed.

"Yeah. Who are you?"

He laughed, "I guess I've changed a lot more than you have." He had thick black hair that was just short enough to be considered neat, but still long enough to have a sort of juvenile wildness to it. He had a short beard with small flecks of grey that gave him the sophistication his haircut lacked. His eyes were dark green and gently lined when he smiled, framed by dark-rimmed glasses. "Let's see…long, jungle man hair, clean face, no glasses…"

"Oh my god, Matt?" Olivia's jaw nearly hit the ground.

He laughed again and they both hugged each other tightly. "I knew you were here but it's so weird running into you like this. You look great."

"You look better without the jungle man hair," she said, smiling.

"I couldn't quite let go completely, but it's definitely an improvement. I see you on the other hand were happy to get rid of all those luscious locks."

"It's tough running after bad guys with hair in your eyes."

"Hey, you two should go for coffee, I'll head back to the station," Elliot said.

"Uh, okay. I'll bring you back a coffee." Elliot nodded and headed back towards the station.

"Boyfriend?"

"Partner."

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"My _work _partner. There's nothing romantic about it." The both started walking again towards the café.

"You single?"

"Yeah. I sort of gave up having a personal life when I joined SVU."

"Why?"

"Do you know what I do for a living? I talk to rape victims and little kids who've been molested. And I can't just get up and go home for the night while we're investigation a child being kidnapped. Seeing what I see and doing what I do every day doesn't leave much room for a meaningful relationship."

"It's interesting, don't you think? The most damaged people always seem to seek out the most damaging lifestyle."

"Are you single?"

"That's not important. I can understand why you wanted Travis out of your life…sort of. But why cut out Christy and I? We would have been there for you, Liv. We _wanted_ to be there. And now you're a cop? Since when did you want to be a cop?"

"I never told you what I wanted to be. You have no idea what I had planned."

"Bullshit. You wanted to be a paediatrician, you told me a hundred times."

"You can't prove that."

"I'm not joking here, Olivia. You're damaging yourself just like Travis; you just found a way that everyone thinks is noble rather than pathetic. You don't have a personal life because you don't want one. Your job is just a convenient excuse."

"Did you come here to analyze and insult me?"

Matt sighed and stopped walking. Olivia turned to face him. "Christy wants to see you. You can either come by the hotel, or she'll find you at work. And you know she'll hunt you down, so don't even bother hiding." He handed her a card with the hotel address and room number written on it, then walked away, leaving Olivia alone in front of the café.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"You were gone a while. Thanks." Elliot took the coffee from Olivia, who had just come back from the café.

"Where're Fin and Lake?" She asked, draping her coat over the back of her chair.

"They went to talk to Travis."

"Is Cragen pissed?"

"Yeah, but I think he's secretly glad you're actually taking some time away from work for once. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Any news on Celia Moroe?"

"Still in a coma. Doc says it doesn't look good," Munch said.

"Any witnesses see the van?"

"Nope, just the dog," Elliot said.

"Did everyone see the same dog?"

"Everyone says it was a small Sheltie," Munch said.

"What's a sheltie?" Elliot asked.

"Think miniature Lassie," Munch replied.

"They didn't necessarily see the exact same dog, but there's really no point in training multiple dogs if they're all gonna look the same to witnesses, and the dogs would have to be trained to lead the girls to the van. Has anything been released to the press yet?"

"Cragen's got a press conference set up for later today to warn people about the dog," Munch said.

"Can I help you?" Elliot asked when he saw a woman enter the squadroom, looking around.

"I'm looking for Olivia Benson," she said.

Olivia froze. She had her back to the woman who had just entered, but she recognized the voice. She wanted to run, or put on some sort of disguise, but there was no escape. She sighed and turned around slowly. Pale skin, long black hair, midnight blue eyes, and not so much as a millimetre taller or shorter than Olivia. Apart from the smooth, layered hair, she could almost have walked straight out of Olivia's memories.

"You could have given me a chance to go to the hotel."

"Would you have actually come?" Christy asked with a smile. Her voice was deep and seductive. It reminded Olivia how jealous she had been of Christy's exotic looks in high school.

"No, but you could have given me the benefit of the doubt."

"I guess I just had to see it. Olivia Benson, a detective. I would have insisted Travis was lying if I didn't know him better. Is there somewhere more private we could go to talk?"

"I'm working a case and I've already taken more time off than I'm actually allowed to."

"I expect to see you at the hotel soon, Olivia. I'm on vacation so I'm willing to wake up at any hour. I mean it; I'll come back here." Christy smiled and left the precinct.

"This is not happening. I'm dreaming." Olivia put her hands over her face and shook her head slowly.

"I think she's losing it," Munch said. Elliot just smiled.

"What's wrong with Liv?" Fin asked. He and Lake had just entered the squadroom.

"She just found out Santa isn't real and she's having trouble coping. I told her she can still expect 2 dollars for that loose tooth but I don't think it helped," Munch said.

"I'm fine," Olivia said. "Did Travis tell you anything?"

"He has a bad habit of getting wasted and waking up with no memory. If someone's trying to target him, probably wouldn't be that difficult," Lake said.

"Whoever took his sperm probably followed him to the bar and watched him drink until he was too drunk to know what he was doing, maybe even passed out," Munch said.

"You think a woman was involved?" Elliot asked no one in particular.

"Probably, but not necessarily," Olivia said.

"None of the victims saw their attacker, none of the witnesses saw the van, and Travis has no idea who might be targeting him. So what, we investigate the dog?" Lake shook his head.

"There's no consistency in the attacks. No connection between the girls other than age, the parks he's targeted are all over New York, the only consistency is his MO, but it's really not giving us anything to do on." Elliot sighed. He hated cases like this.

"We sure the victims didn't see anything?" Cragen asked.

"They all said the guy was wearing a black mask, black clothes and black gloves, they didn't see anything. He told them they were bad girls for sneaking away from their families and if they told their parents what happened they'd be mad. We might be able to get a voice I.D. if we ever catch the guy, but even that's not likely," Olivia said.

"Are we sure there's no pattern?"

"Doesn't look like it," Lake said.

"There could be, but there's probably a lot more victims that we don't know about. Kinda hard to figure out a pattern with huge chunks missing," Munch said.

"And we can't know how deep Travis's involvement is because we don't have any other rape kits." Elliot shook his head in frustration. The case was already cold and the guy was still out there attacking more little girls.

"You alright?" Olivia asked him quietly.

"Fine." He was irritable and didn't want to talk to anyone about how he felt. He couldn't help feeling guilty about snapping at Olivia, though. She had opened up to him so much and he couldn't even admit to her that the case was getting to him. She would know, of course, but that just made it worse. What did he have to worry about if she already knew what he was going to say?

"Re-interview the parents and the victims, see if you can get any new information. We're not putting this case to rest until we get this guy behind bars, or the file turns to ice," Cragen said.

"You ready to hear it all again?" Olivia asked Elliot, putting on her coat.

"I'm fine." Again he cursed the edge in his voice, the hostility he knew Olivia could hear, but he couldn't help it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Elliot was sitting on a cot in the crib. It was late and they had returned from their last interview an hour ago. Elliot had been in the crib ever since, while the other detectives discussed the case. None of the parents or victims had changed their story or remembered anything new. They all felt the case had gone cold, but none of them wanted to accept it. Now Olivia leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed, watching Elliot as he sat with his head in his hands.

"We can't just give up on those girls," he said at last.

"We're not giving up, Elliot, we just don't have anything to go on," Olivia assured him, sitting down next to him.

"I hate these cases."

"As opposed to…?"

Elliot sighed. "Did you think it would be like this when you joined the squad?"

"I knew there had to be a reason detectives only work here for about 2 years."

"What makes us so different?"

"Well I'm damaged beyond repair, what's your excuse?"

She was trying to keep the mood light with humour, but he heard the pain behind her words. He knew she was trying to hide it for his sake, giving him his turn to get out his pain, but he knew her too well not to hear it and cared too much not to comfort her. "Liv…don't say that."

"It's fine, Elliot, really."

"Olivia, you are not damaged. You've been through some horrible things but you overcame all of them, they didn't damage you, they made you stronger. You've done this job so much longer than anyone else because you're stronger than those people." They both felt strange. Elliot had never told her how strong he thought she was, how amazing she was, and, though she knew how they both felt, it was strange for her to hear it.

Olivia had no idea what to say. She was staring at Elliot, stunned. The expression on his face was so serious, which was hardly out of the ordinary, but there was something else behind it. She thought it was pain. She realized something as she stared into his eyes: she was his rock as much as he was hers. For her to say such things about herself was like an earthquake shaking the only solid foundation he had to stand on. It was how she had felt after having her neck slashed and being blamed by Elliot for that little boy's death. The person who was always supposed to have her back, to support her no matter what, had blamed her for something she already felt guilty about. But that had been different. He had been shaken by a case; it was understandable. This time she was doubting herself based on something much deeper than just one case.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home." Elliot stood up and Olivia followed, trying to shake off the strange thoughts and emotions running through her.

When Elliot pulled up infront of Olivia's apartment building she undid her seatbelt and turned in her seat to face Elliot. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. You?"

She couldn't lie to him, but she didn't want to worry him, either, so she smiled and said, "I'll get there."

She felt relief when she got out of the car. It wasn't because she felt awkward, but she wasn't used to Elliot saying things like that to her. It was an odd sensation that sent her mind reeling and she was glad to be away from it. But when she got out of the shower and into her pyjamas, she felt strangely hollow. Rather than crawling into bed she put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and headed outside for some fresh air. She paused just outside the front door of her building when she saw Elliot paused, halfway up the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I couldn't sleep. Guess I hoped you couldn't, either."

Olivia sat down on the top step and Elliot sat down next to her. It was cold enough to see their breath and Olivia wasn't wearing gloves, but Elliot had brought her a cup of tea, made exactly the way she liked it, and it warmed her hands. "Do you have any friends outside of work?"

"Do the husbands of Kathy's friends count?"

"No."

"Then no, I don't."

"Does it bother you?"

Elliot thought about it for a minute, then said, "Should it?"

"Not having any friends? Yeah, I think that should bother you."

"Yeah, not having any friends probably _would_ bother me, but I have friends."

"It doesn't bother you that they're all co-workers?"

"Does it bother you?"

Olivia sighed and looked at the steam rising from her tea. "Yes. It does."

"So do something about it. Go out and make friends."

"You say that like it's easy."

"It's not that hard to find friends. It may surprise you but you're actually pretty likeable."

"It's not _finding_ friends that's hard, it's _keeping_ them. I mean, what do I have to contribute to a conversation? 'I had a lousy day, my boss is being a jerk, I think I should quit. What about you, Liv?' 'I dunno, my boss is great, but I had to shoot a guy who molested his daughter because he fired at me during pursuit, but yeah, dealing with a difficult boss really sucks.'" Olivia carried on the mock conversation sarcastically.

Elliot smiled. "Well…I think the trick is to talk about something other than work."

"Such as…?"

"I don't know. I'll let you know if I ever figure it out."

"I miss them. Matt and Christy and Travis. I miss what we had. We could practically read each other's minds we were so close. We had so many inside jokes that every word in the English language had some hilarious story attached to it. We had laughing fits at least once a week that left me sore until the next time. And we moaned and bitched and whined to each other about how much our lives sucked and then we joked about it all and fell asleep at Christy's house because Travis insisted it was the most comfortable but we all knew he just wanted to catch her sister coming out of the shower. Everything was so juvenile, so pointless, but I'd give anything to have it back." 'Don't cry, you've already cried too much infront of him' she silently urged herself.

"You know, it might not be my place to say anything, but maybe if you really want that back, you should let them back into your life. I don't know about Travis, but from everything I've heard, Christy and Matt had nothing to do with any of it. So why punish yourself by keeping yourself away from them?"

Olivia was silent. She knew he was right, that it really didn't make sense, but she had her reasons. She could explain it to him, but he would never understand. As hard as he tried to understand and make her feel better, he just couldn't understand her true feelings.

"They're back in your life, Olivia. Maybe this is your chance to fix it."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I…I just can't."

"Liv…" But before he could say anything else Olivia stood up and went back into her apartment building, leaving Elliot alone on the step. He sat there for a few minutes, sipping his coffee, then headed home.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**I know this story is a lot slower than my previous one, not much action of mystery going on, but I'm writing a pretty intense chapter right now that I think you'll all like, so hang in there! It's gonna be a pretty long story but I plan to add a couple chapters every day.**

"What's going on with the case?" Olivia asked Elliot the next day when she arrived at the station.

"Dunno. Cragen's pissed that it's gone cold, but we can't keep going over useless files when there are so many other cases to worry about."

"I guess we just have to hope he leaves something behind on his next victim." She sighed and sat down at her desk. "Got a new case for us?"

"Got some paperwork to finish, Cragen let me off because of the case but he's on the warpath now."

"Olivia!"

Olivia looked up and resisted the urge to swear loudly. Matt had entered the squadroom and was heading straight for her. Christy wasn't with him, which was a relief, but she didn't want to see either one of them. "Matt, you can't just come in here whenever you want, I've got a job to do."

"I know, that's why I'm here. I think one of my patients was molested."

"Your patient?" Olivia suddenly realized she had no idea what Matt did for a living, though she understood now that he must be a paediatrician. She thought it was strangely ironic; Matt had wanted to be a cop as a kid. But she was still confused about something. "Why do you have patients here, I thought you went to Chicago with Travis?"

"I did. I didn't stay there."

"How long have you been in New York?"

"Seven years." Olivia was horrified. They'd been in the same city all that time and she hadn't known? Had he known where she was? "Olivia, can we do this some other time? I'm worried about this girl."

"Right. Come on, let's go somewhere more private." She took him into one of their small offices that sometimes served as an interrogation room.

"Her name's Mia Williams, she's 6 and a half. I've known her since she was a baby; I met her parents when I first came to New York. They died in a fire when she was 5. She went into foster care and I wasn't her paediatrician anymore, but I kept in touch. Everything in her life had changed so completely, I thought it would do her good to see a familiar face. She's had a lot of trouble adjusting to foster care, she gets bounced around a lot because she won't open up, but she's a great kid when she's with me. Anyway, I went to see her this morning and she was completely depressed. She didn't want to talk to me, didn't want to play any of her favourite games, she just sat on her bed and moped. I tried to ask her what was wrong but she just freaked out and refused to even look at me. I talked to her foster parents and apparently she went to the park the day before with a couple of the older foster kids. I talked to them and I got them to admit they lost track of her for a few minutes, but she came back and she was fine, so they just took her home and told her not to say anything about wandering off. I'm really worried about her."

"Can you take me to her?" Olivia asked, standing up.

Matt stood up and followed her out of the room. Olivia told Cragen she was checking out a lead and headed out the door with Matt. She got into the passenger seat of his car and he pulled onto the road. "Did you know I was here?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah," he said, his jaw clenched.

"How long?"

"I found out about 2 years ago. Travis told me. I don't think he ever intended to, but he was wasted."

"Why didn't you ever try to find me?"

"I thought you'd be pissed. You were the one who left and refused to talk to any of us anymore, I didn't want to intrude in your life. It was weird, knowing you were so close, but I thought it would be painful for you if you knew how close I was, especially if you still didn't want me around. You could have figured it out if you really wanted to, though. Especially being a cop."

"I guess I thought I was safer not knowing."

"Safer from what, exactly?"

"The temptation of finding you."

"Why'd you do it, Olivia? Why me and Christy?"

"You reminded me of Travis and Curtis. I couldn't get away from the memories unless I got away from you."

"You think he did it on purpose?"

"You mean Travis? He was just a stupid teenager, it really doesn't matter now."

"Not Travis; Curtis. Do you think he was really in that much pain?"

"I'd give anything to know. I can't believe he'd ever commit suicide but…I just don't know. What do you think?"

"I think he loved you."

Olivia hadn't expected to hear it. And he said it so bluntly, so matter-of-factly, it left her momentarily speechless. When she recovered from her shock, she looked at Matt, who didn't return her gaze because he was driving. "Did he tell you?"

He nodded. "He told me once that he made a huge mistake in letting you go. He said he wanted you to be happy, and he knew you didn't have feeling for him, but it was really painful to see the two of you together. It was only a couple months after you started dating Travis, though, I thought he was just projecting his loneliness onto you two because he didn't have a girlfriend. And he never mentioned it again, so I just sort of forgot it. But after the accident, I started looking back and you know what? It was obvious. I saw it; I just didn't make the connection. Maybe it was just an accident, maybe he was just too wasted to realize what he was doing, but he was in pain. Maybe he was trying to numb it or maybe he was trying to get rid of it altogether, but realizing he would never have another chance to be with you was just too much for him to deal with. The thing is, though, you have to stop blaming yourself. He wanted you to be happy. If he did kill himself, this isn't what he'd want for us, and it's definitely not what he'd want for you."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Matt had made his point and Olivia had nothing to say. She didn't want to talk about any of it anymore. She'd come so close to forgetting it all and now everything was being drudged up again. They drove to Queens and pulled into the driveway of a beautiful house with children's toys littering the front lawn and porch. Olivia followed Matt up to the house and stood next to him as he knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

They could hear the muffled sound of children playing inside, then a woman's voice calling for the children to quite down. Then the door opened and a woman no older than 30 opened the door, her light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and her jeans and baggy t-shirt covered in paint. She smiled and hugged Matt, then smiled at Olivia. "New girlfriend?"

"Old girlfriend, actually, but that's ancient history. She's a detective, actually. I asked her to talk to Mia. We think she might have been…attacked at the park."

"Are you serious? Is she okay? The other kids didn't say anything." She looked very worried.

"She'll be alright, Detective Benson just wants to talk to her, she's trained to talk to kids about this kind of thing," He assured her. She nodded and stepped aside, letting Matt and Olivia in.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**I just realized I love giving my characters glasses for some strange reason…**

"Hey Mia, my friend Olivia wants to talk to you. Is that alright?" Matt asked when he entered the little girl's room. Mia was small for a 6 year old. She had dark auburn hair that was tied back into a French braid. She was wearing glasses with thin purple frames that kept sliding down her nose. She seemed happy to see Matt, but it was obvious she was upset about something. When Matt told her about Olivia she looked up nervously and just nodded. "I'll be right downstairs if you need me. Don't worry, you'll love Olivia." He kissed her forehead and left Olivia and Mia alone in the small room.

"You really like when Matt visits, don't you?" Olivia said, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Mia was sitting on the edge of her bed, hugging a stuffed toy. She just nodded, avoiding Olivia's gaze. "Do you like it here?" Mia shrugged. "How about your brothers and sisters, do you get along with them?"

"I hate them," Mia said, her voice barely audible.

"Why do you hate them?"

"They're mean to me."

"What do they do to you?"

"They call me a baby and they try to steal my bunny." She squeezed the stuffed toy, which Olivia now realized was a white rabbit.

"Do they ever take you to the park?" Mia squeezed the rabbit even more and just nodded. "Did they take you to the park on Saturday?"

"No!" Mia yelled and she curled up on her bed, pulling her pillow over her head.

Olivia sat down on the bed and put her hand gently on Mia's shoulder. "Mia, I know you're scared. The man said that if you told anyone you would get in trouble, right? But he was lying, sweetie. No one's going to be mad and you're not going to get in trouble. What that man did was wrong, and we can put him in jail if you help us."

Mia slowly uncovered her face and sat up. She looked into Olivia's eyes for the first time. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"He won't hurt me again?"

"He'll never hurt you again, I'll make sure of it."

"But I did a really bad thing." She looked down again.

"No, sweetie, you didn't so anything wrong," Olivia said, putting a reassuring hand on Mia's back.

"I took something I wasn't supposed and Tammy said that's wrong I'm not supposed to do that." Mia started to cry and Olivia wrapped her arms around the little girl.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

Olivia went back to the squadroom, a triumphant smile on her face. "It's definitely the same man. She saw the dog and followed it to the van, where he grabbed her and raped her while someone drove them around the block. He was dressed in black like all the other attacks, but unlike the other attacks he got a phone call before he let her go. According to Mia he sounded panicked, he was trying to assure whoever was on the other end that everything was under control. But he screwed up; the phone died in the middle of the conversation. He threw it out the window just before they stopped." Olivia held up a silver cell phone, which she had wrapped in a tissue to prevent it from being contaminated by her own hands. "Mia went looking for it. Better yet, he took one of his gloves off to answer the phone. We got prints."

"That's great!" Elliot said, smiling.

Olivia handed the phone to Lake, who rushed it to the lab for analysis. Then she sat down at her desk with a heavy sigh. "You've been gone for hours, Cragen's pissed," Elliot told her.

"He'll calm down when I tell him about the phone."

"That's a long time to be talking to a victim, especially a kid."

"She wouldn't let me leave," Olivia said with a smile. "She's a foster kid and I get the feeling her mom doesn't put much effort into including her. She's six years old and she wanted to play rummy, she had the rules to 6 different versions of the game memorized. I looked at the books she's reading and some of them are at high school level. I don't know how her social worker expects anyone to relate to her, she's an adult stuck in a kid's body." She shook her head sadly. When she looked up Elliot was looking at her with a smirk on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he said with a shrug.

"Uh-uh, that's not 'nothing', tell me what's so amusing."

"I'm just admiring your dedication to the job, that's all." His expression was completely serious, but Olivia wasn't completely sure. She didn't bother asking any more about it, though.

"Olivia, where the hell have you been?" Cragen had just come out of his office and was heading straight for Olivia.

"I went to interview another victim. Sorry I was gone so long, it took a long time for her to open up. But she found a cell phone our perp used, there's a good chance we can get prints. It's at the lab now."

"Next time you check in before you just race off. You're lucky you got that phone or your ass would be glued to that chair for the next week." Olivia nodded and Cragen walked away.

"You really lucked out on that one," Munch said.

Olivia shrugged. Then she stood up and looked at Elliot. "I'm going to the lab, you coming?"

Elliot nodded and followed her. When they got to the lab the prints were just being run through the database. "Got a hit. Miles Exton." The lab tech printed off the information for Elliot and Olivia and they took it back to the squadroom.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Just finished the story, it's 21 chapters and I'm working on the sequel.**

"Miles Exton, 32, 3 DUI's and a petty larceny," Elliot filled everyone in on their new suspect.

Olivia put his picture up for everyone to see. "We went to his apartment but it looks like he hasn't been there for a while. We've got an APB out on him but so far nobody's seen him."

"We've been checking out possible leads, but he doesn't have any living family members and there's nothing else in his file to suggest where he might go," Fin said.

"We keep hitting brick walls on this case," Lake said.

"You sure Mia didn't see anything else?" Cragen asked Olivia.

Olivia shook her head, "She told me everything."

"Talk to the siblings, see if they saw anything useful," He said. Everyone nodded and headed to Tammy's house.

There were 4 siblings in total to interview, but none of them had anything useful to add to the story. Two of them saw the dog, but they didn't even notice Mia follow it out of the park. They both described it as a miniature Lassie. None of them saw the van; they didn't even notice Mia wondering off. Olivia had to bite her tongue to keep from expressing her disgust. Elliot sensed her annoyance and ended the interview as quickly as he could so they could leave.

"What was that about?" Elliot asked when they were back in the car.

"It was their responsibility to watch her and they didn't even notice she was gone until she was on here way back. There were _four _of them, and not one of them could protect that girl." She shook her head in disappointment and leaned back in her seat with a sigh.

"This case is really getting to you," Elliot said, pulling out of the driveway and heading back to the precinct.

"Seeing kids like her wasting away in foster care, yeah, that bothers me."

"I'd rather see Mia in a home like that than on the streets because there's no one to take care of her. The system sucks, everyone knows it, but at least it's something. She could be dealing with a lot worse."

Olivia knew Elliot was right, and she agreed, but it didn't make her feel any better. For the rest of the ride she just stared out the window, and Elliot let her. When they got back he went into the squadroom while Olivia went into the locker room to pull herself together before they had to go back to work. When Elliot saw Matt and Christy standing by Olivia's desk he was furious.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

"I told Olivia I'd be back if she didn't contact me," Christy said.

"Leave. Now."

"We have a right to be here," Matt said.

"No, you don't. We're working an important case and we don't have time to be chatting. You can't just come in here to bother Olivia while she's working a case. Now get out before I drag you out."

"We're not leaving," Matt said.

"Yes, you are," Elliot was practically snarling, his face millimetres away from Matt's.

"Come on, it's not worth it. We'll come back later," Christy said, grabbing Matt's arm to pull him away. Matt and Elliot glared at each other for a few more seconds, then he and Christy left.

"Feeling better?" Elliot asked when Olivia came back into the squadroom. She hadn't seen Matt or Christy.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Anything new?" Cragen asked Olivia and Elliot.

"No, they didn't see anything," Elliot replied.

"Alright. Go home and get some rest, both of you, there's not much more we can do until Miles is found."

"Want a ride?" Elliot offered.

"Can you drop me off at the hotel?" Elliot knew which hotel she was talking about. He didn't say anything, just nodded and followed her out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Olivia, I didn't expect to see you so soon," Christy said when she opened the hotel room door.

"So soon?" Olivia was confused. She felt like she had waited a long time to visit her old friends.

"We went to visit you not 30 minutes ago. Your partner was rather confrontational." She stepped aside and let Olivia in.

"I've been having a bad day. He probably thought I didn't want to see you." She suddenly felt very grateful towards Elliot. She didn't like to admit when she was struggling, so it meant a lot having someone who knew her so well and was willing to protect her.

"Would you have wanted to see us?"

"No," Olivia replied truthfully, "Not at that moment."

"Olivia, you're here!" Matt had just come out of the kitchen and smiled when he saw Olivia.

"I'm sorry if Elliot was rude to you. We've both been having a bad day." She wasn't really sorry for what Elliot had done, she was actually happy he had done it, but she decided it would be best to just apologize.

"No problem. I guess he really cares about you."

"We've been partners for a long time, it's his job to have my back."

"Right. Just a job," Christy said, smirking.

"There's nothing going on between Elliot and I."

"Not yet," she teased.

"I mean it, Chris. When you work with someone for nearly a decade you get to know them really well, but there's nothing romantic about it. He's married."

"When has that ever changed anything?"

"I think I get why you're not married," Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

"I'll have you know I'm in a committed relationship, and I don't date married men. But if I got to work with a man that sexy every day, I'd make an exception."

"You really haven't changed, have you?"

"Did you really think she would?" Matt said, sitting down on the bed. Olivia sat down in an armchair near the door to the balcony.

"What about you? I'm still in shock that you actually became a cop."

"It shouldn't be that much of a surprise, given all the crap I went through with my mom." Olivia realized she had never told them the whole story. They knew she had problems with her mother, but she hadn't told them about being the product of rape. She had told Travis not long before Curtis's accident. She had no idea if he ever told Matt or Christy, but she doubted it. She would have to explain it for them to fully understand what she had meant.

"So you became a cop so you could, what get out the aggression you built up while you were fighting with you mom?" Matt looked a little confused.

"Never mind. It was after I left."

"_What_ was after you left?" Christy asked, raising one of her perfectly arched eyebrows.

"My mom…told me…some stuff. It doesn't matter, the point is I'm a detective now and I love my job." It wasn't exactly the truth. She actually hated her job, all the horrible things she had to see and hear about, but she loved solving the case. Bringing justice and closure to victims made her feel…actually, she had no idea how it made her feel, but it was a good feeling nonetheless.

"You can't expect us to just let it drop," Christy said, shaking her head.

"Yes, actually I can. What about you, Matt, why didn't you become a cop?"

"Listening to you talk about why you wanted to work with kids, I started thinking more about it. I don't know what exactly made me change my mind, but I knew a long time ago that I didn't want to be a cop anymore. I guess I should thank you for that, cause I love my job, too."

Christy watched as Olivia and Matt's eyes locked, incomprehensible thoughts and emotions passing through their gaze. She felt uneasy and very left out. She interrupted, "Is Travis off the hook in your investigation? I heard you think he's being framed."

"I can't discuss an ongoing investigation," Olivia said. It was a short reply, but it severed the eerie gaze between her and Matt, so Christy was satisfied.

"I talked to Mia, she said you were really nice to her. I'm glad she opened up to you; I was worried she wouldn't tell you anything. She still won't tell me what happened, though. You must have a real way with kids." Again that strange exchange between their eyes, but it quickly ended.

"What is it with you two?" Christy asked, bewildered. It was like listening to two people laughing hysterically at an inside joke and not understanding what was so funny.

"Huh? Nothing," Matt said, shaking his head.

"Look, I really only came here because I don't want you showing up at my work anymore. But I'm not the same person you used to know. I'm not interested is becoming best friends again. I just want to get this all sorted out and get on with my life," Olivia said.

"We're not expecting to become best friends again, Liv, we know a lot's changed, but that doesn't mean you have to cut us out of your life again," Christy was almost pleading with her.

"We had such a great friendship, I don't get why we have to throw it out the window because somebody died 2 decades ago. It was a tragedy, you feel responsible, we get that, but what's keeping you from us now?" Matt asked.

"20 years of history that you're no a part of," Olivia replied. "And a job that doesn't give me time for a life."

"That's just an excuse," Matt said.

"It was _high school_, Matt. I'm thrilled that you managed to keep your friends, but people change and friendships end. You can't go back to them 20 years later and expect them to still be there." Olivia stood up and left the hotel room. Christy and Matt just watched her go.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"What's going on?" Olivia asked Elliot. The captain was in his office, talking to a couple she assumed were the parents of a victim.

"6-year-old girl turned up dead not far from the park where her babysitter lost sight of her. Apparently she was paying with a puppy before she disappeared. Babysitter described the puppy as a miniature Lassie, just like all the others. He's escalating." Olivia could see that the case was difficult for Elliot. Cases involving children were always the hardest to deal with, and Olivia suddenly felt guilty. She had become so consumed by her own problems that she wasn't being a real partner or friend to Elliot.

"We're gonna find him, Elliot, and we're gonna nail his ass to the wall for what he did to those girls," she tried to assure his, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said distractedly, watching the couple exit Cragen's office. The woman's eyes were red and puffy from crying and her husband looked on the verge of tears. Cragen had his hands in his pockets as he watched them go, an expression and frustration and sadness on his face.

"We're not going anywhere on this case until we find Exton. Any leads on his whereabouts?" Cragen asked Elliot and Olivia.

"Nothing," Olivia said sadly. They had hit a dead end on the case and everyone knew it.

"Do you think he came back to New York for another attack?" Elliot asked both Cragen and Olivia.

"I wouldn't put it past this guy," Cragen said.

"I hate to be the one to say it, but I think this case has gone cold, captain," Lake said. "Until we find Exton there's nothing we can do."

Elliot stood up and walked away, heading for the crib. Olivia glanced at Lake and Cragen, then followed him. "What's up?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"What's wrong with us lately?" His said, shaking his head.

"We're both having a shitty week," she said.

"Why do you do it, Olivia? I mean, is it really because of your mother? Is that really why you put yourself through this?" He had never asked her that before and she was surprised to hear it.

"I…I don't know. That's why I joined SVU. I guess I just…can't leave. Not after everything I've seen. I can't abandon the victims. In all honesty I don't know what I think of my mother anymore, not since I found out about my father." She paused, then looked at Elliot. "Why do you do it?"

"I don't know. I used to think I was making a difference, that I was helping people, but I don't feel like I am anymore. I guess that's the problem. I think I've been doing this job too long."

"You're not really thinking about leaving, are you?" Olivia couldn't stand the thought of losing her partner. They knew each other so well, she trusted him with her life. How could she keep doing this job if she lost something that important?

"I dunno. Maybe I'm just having a bad week." He gave her a reassuring smile. "It'd be interesting to see you deal with a new partner, though. My track record sucks, but I wonder if you'd be any better."

"Of course I would. If I can handle you I can handle anyone."

"Warner's got something for you," Cragen said, appearing in the crib doorway. Elliot and Olivia both stood up and headed for the M.E.'s office.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"I ran DNA on the fluids in the victim, they're a match to the fluids in Celia Moroe. It's a match to Travis Sidlick, but the sperm has clearly been frozen. Whoever your guy is, he obviously hasn't done his homework," Warner told them.

"Why are they targeting Travis?" Olivia asked as she looked at the results of the DNA analysis. She knew no one could answer the question, she was just wondering out loud.

"Did you find any other evidence on the body?" Elliot asked.

"No. She died from a single blow to the back of the head; I haven't been able to find any physical evidence on her. Based on the injury I'd say someone bashed her head against a wall, or possibly the floor of the van she was being held in."

Olivia shook her head. She was sick of their lack of evidence or leads. Elliot thanked Warner and the two detectives made their way back to the SVU squadroom. Fin approached them when they entered. "Cops in Chicago just picked up Miles Exton, they saw him on the street and thought he matched our description. He's on his way here," he told them.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

"I didn't do anything," Miles insisted when Olivia and Elliot walked into the interrogation room. Olivia and Elliot exchanged amused looks.

"Seems you're wound a little tight, Miles. Relax, we just want to talk," Olivia said, sitting down across from him while Elliot stood behind her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, right. Police pick me up in Chicago and drag me all the way here for a chat? That's bullshit."

"You're a pedophile," Elliot said. Miles knew they suspected him from something and they weren't going to gain anything from playing coy little games.

"What?"

"You have a thing for little girls, don't you Miles?" Olivia said, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Miles mirrored Olivia's action, but it was much less graceful. The back leg of his chair was shorter than all the rest and he rocked back clumsily.

"You know exactly what we're talking about. You kidnapped those girls and you raped them," Elliot said, standing right next to Miles and leaning down so they were almost eye-to-eye. They glared at each other.

"I'm not attracted to little girls, that's just sick."

"I agree," Olivia said.

"You lured those girls to your van and you raped them while your partner drove around the block. But you screwed up, you let your temper get the best of you and you threw your phone out the window. You led us right to you."

Miles shook his head. "I want a lawyer."

Elliot clenched his fists in frustration, quickly leaving the interrogation room. Olivia glared at Miles for a minute, then followed Elliot out. Miles had a smirk on his face that irritated Olivia. "Well, that's it, he said the magic words," Casey said to Olivia. She had been watching on the other side of the glass. Elliot hadn't stopped to talk to her but had continued into the squadroom and then to the locker room.

"We've got the cell phone," Olivia said.

"It's hardly a smoking gun, the witness is only 6 years old."

"Mia swears she saw him throw it out the window before he let her go," Olivia argued.

"I know, Liv, but the defence is going to poke holes in her story and without an i.d. there's not much I can do. It might be enough for an inditement, but it's not going to hold up in court. Get a confession or find some more physical evidence."

"Casey, this guy has raped 10 little girls, we can't just sit back and do nothing!"

"You're right. So get in there and do you job, and then I'll do mine." She walked out of the room, leaving Olivia alone to look at Miles. They would have to wait for his attorney to arrive before they could interrogate him further.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

"I was at home," Miles gave them his alibi.

"Can anyone vouch for that?" Elliot asked.

"My client doesn't make a habit of inviting people over so he'll have an alibi later. We all spend nights at home alone, detective," Miles's attorney said.

"We have your fingerprints on a cell phone that was found near the crime scene," Olivia said.

"Circumstantial at best, my client could have lost that phone at any time."

"We have a witness that saw you throw the cell phone out of a dark blue van less than half a block from the park where 3 of the victims were abducted." Elliot didn't want to say who the witness had been, but he knew there was no point avoiding it. The rapist would of course know who they were talking about, and there was no way around telling him there was a witness, otherwise they would be forced to let him go. Olivia worried for Mia's safety.

"Did this witness see my client's face?"

"No, but she saw someone throw the phone and your client's prints were the only prints on the phone," Olivia said.

"Whoever used that phone probably wore gloves. My client can be careless with his possessions, someone probably found the phone and decided to make use of it. You have no physical evidence tying my client to any of these crimes. We're leaving." They both stood up and Elliot and Olivia watched them leave.

"He's gonna know it's Mia, we have to protect her," Olivia said.

Elliot nodded. "We'll get him, Liv."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Miles, what are you doing back so soon?" Olivia asked, sitting down across from Miles once again. Casey sat next to her and Elliot stood behind them.

"My client would like to negotiate a deal," Miles's attorney said.

"What do you have to offer?" Casey asked.

"I can give you my partner, the wheel man. And I can tell you who was really behind it all," he said.

"Putting the blame on someone else?" Olivia said.

"I'm turning myself in and I'm giving you everyone else involved, what the hell do you want from me?" Miles said angrily.

"Alright, let's hear it," Casey said.

"We want a deal, Miss Novak," his attorney said.

"I'll take the death penalty off the table," she said, leaning back in her chair.

"15 years, with the possibility of parole."

"Your client raped 10 little girls that we know of, you killed one of them and put another in a coma!" Casey was outraged.

"You're not gonna get them without me. They're just gonna find someone to replace me and more girls are gonna get hurt," Miles said.

Casey was silent for a minute, glaring at Miles. Finally she sighed and said, "15 years, and you serve every last minute."

Miles whispered with his attorney for a minute, then he nodded and began his story. "I used to go the park on a regular basis, watch the kids playing, but I was too chicken to ever do anything. One day a guy came up to me, said he could give me what I wanted. He took me to his van and there was a little girl tied up in the back. Meghan Riley, I don't think she ever came forward. She was my first."

"What was the guy's name?" Casey asked.

"Greg Hanson. He was the wheelman for all the attacks. He never raped any of the girls, he just got off on the thrill and the violence."

"You said there was someone else behind it all, the brains of the operation. Who is it?" Olivia asked.

"After Meghan, Greg took me to an old warehouse and we met up with a woman. She has Greg wrapped around her finger, I could tell, he's a junkie and she gets him the best stuff. Greg was the one who wanted to kidnap the girls, but he told her there would be no point 'cause he only likes to watch. That's when she told him to find someone he could watch. She told him about me, and she gave us the dog and told us how we could get the vehicles we needed. And she gave us the syringes, told us to use them on the girls, said it would put the suspicion onto someone else if any of the girls went forward in time to do a rape kit."

"Do you know what it was?" Olivia asked. She knew, of course, but she wondered if Miles did.

He shook his head. "No, she never told us, but I figured it was some other guy's DNA. Anyway, when we were heading back to the park with Mia she called, said there was a problem and we had to stop. I told her everything was under control, that we were doing what she said, but she was in a panic. I got really pissed and I chucked the phone out the window."

"And you kept going anyway, you put Celia Moroe in a coma and you killed Andrea Mills," Olivia said.

"No, that was Greg. He got cut off, she wouldn't give him his fix anymore because she was so pissed at me. I thought Celia was just an accident, she was struggling and screaming and Greg lost his temper, but when he killed Andrea I knew he was out of control. That's why I stopped, tried to get away from New York, but you guys dragged me back. It's only a matter of time before they come after me to shut me up, I might as well get them before they get me."

"What's he name, Miles?" Casey asked.

"Christiana McKenzie."

Olivia felt sick to her stomach.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Olivia quickly left the room, followed closely by Elliot. She went to the locker room, seething with anger. "Olivia, you didn't know, you couldn't have," Elliot said. He took a step towards her but she put her hand up, glaring at him.

"Leave, Elliot." She stood there staring back at her. He wasn't moving.

She turned away from his gaze, her fists clenched so tight she thought her palms might start to bleed. Finally she gave in and kicked her locker so hard it left a dent, then slammed her fists into in with a cry of rage. Elliot was so stunned he actually took a step back. She had never displayed her anger like that. She let out a stream of curses and pounded her fists again, resting her forehead on the cold metal. Elliot walked over and put his hands on her shoulders and she just stood there, unable to move, shame slowly replacing her anger.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"You're apologizing to _me_?" He smiled.

"I just can't believe it. Why? What the hell was she thinking? She was my best friend, Elliot."

"People change, Liv. The last time you saw her she was barely an adult."

"But how can someone change that much? What happened to her to make her do something like this?"

"You'll have to ask her that, I don't know any more than you do."

"Why did it have to be her? Why did they have to come back into my life like this?" She didn't want to cry infront of Elliot, especially not after beating up her locker only minutes ago, but she couldn't hold back the tears that stung her eyes.

"Maybe this is God's way of telling you to stop running from the past, showing you how much destruction it can cause." Elliot knew she didn't believe that, but it was the only answer her could offer. Her massaged her shoulders as she stood with her forehead against her locker, tears streaming silently down her cheeks. He was worried she would reject his offer of kindness, but she knew there was no point pretending she was perfectly fine after what he had just seen.

"I'm sorry, El, I should be so…"

"Human?" He supplied with a smile. "Just because you're a detective doesn't mean you have to be so tough all the time. I know you can kick my ass, a few tears isn't going to change that."

Olivia smiled and wiped away her tears, turning to face him. "Thanks," she said, and they left the room together.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

Elliot and Olivia went to the hotel where Christy and Travis were staying, but Matt was the one who opened the door. When Olivia asked where Christy was, he told her she had left hours ago and he had no idea where she was or why she left. She had packed most of her stuff, so he assumed she was heading home. Travis had gone for a walk.

"Give us a call if you see her," Elliot said, handing Matt his card.

"What's going on?" Matt asked, ignoring Elliot and looking at Olivia.

"She's in trouble, Matt," she said.

He sighed and shook his head, "Dammit."

"You don't sound surprised," Elliot said.

"Christy's changed a lot over the years. I guess it should surprise me that your guys are after her, but really…" He just sighed and shook his head.

"It's that bad?" Olivia said, her expression and voice full of pain.

"It had nothing to do with you," Matt assured her.

"Let us know if you see her," Olivia said, quickly leaving the hotel. Elliot followed in silence.

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They had put out an APB on both Christy and Greg but so far neither of them had turned up. Elliot and Olivia finished up some paperwork for the case, then headed home. Elliot gave Olivia a ride, as usual, but they barely spoke to each other. Elliot felt like the case had brought them closer and pulled them apart at the same time.

Olivia headed up to her apartment slowly, feeling drained. She was starving, but she knew her fridge was empty and she was too tired to go to the store. When she got to her apartment she dropped her keys and cursed under her breath, bending down to grab her key chain. But before she had even straightened completely the whole world went black.

**Gonna be raising the rating for the next chapter. Juicy stuff coming!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**This chapter's a little gruesome so I raised the rating. Just wanna warn you guys.**

When Olivia awoke she was cold and completely soaked. Her head was pounding so hard it took her several minutes to realize what was going on. She was in a deep hole, with boards tossed over it uselessly. She would have no hopes of climbing out and there were huge gaps between the boards, letting in plenty of the unnatural grey light above her. She was lying in shallow water and a wave of nausea hit her when she breathed in the putrid odour around her. She turned her head groggily to the side and screamed, hurrying to sit up, to get away from the water. There was some sort of large crate off to one side and she quickly scrambled onto it, breathing heavily, her whole body shaking. She wanted desperately to get the sickening water off of her, to be clean, and she felt panic overwhelm her.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down," she urged herself, trying to steady her breathing and stop her body from shaking. She knew she was on the verge of a panic attack and she couldn't risk passing out.

When she finally managed to steady herself she looked back at the water. Despite the light coming through the boards, it was still dark in the hole and it was filled with eerie shadows. But what had frightened her was clearly visible in a band of light. A human head, severed at the neck and rapidly decomposing, was staring up at her. There were other things floating in the water that Olivia could only assume were fingers. She had seen dead bodies before and they didn't even bother her anymore, but this was different. She had been lying in human soup and her stomach churned threateningly. Her head was pounding, her stomach was growling with hunger despite the nausea, and she was exhausted. She didn't think she had been unconscious for very long but she had no way to be sure because her watch was gone, and even if it weren't she doubted it would work after being submerged in the 'water'. Knowing there was nothing else she could do, Olivia started to scream until her throat was raw.

"Shut up, shut the fuck up!" A man's voice came from above her.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Olivia called up to him.

He chuckled, "See Brandy down there? You might as well get acquainted because soon you'll be spending a long, _long_ time together."

Olivia screamed again but the man just chuckled and she heard his footsteps retreating. Olivia stood up and attempted to find some kind of handholds, anything to climb out of her putrid prison, but the walls were smooth and at least twice her height. As she stood she also realized that here back ached and she was pretty sure her wrist was sprained. She sat back down on the crate with her knees pulled up to her chest and began to sob. She was completely helpless.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

"Elliot, where's Olivia?" Cragen asked Elliot. It was almost 8 o'clock in the morning and Olivia still hadn't come to work.

Elliot shrugged. When Cragen left he picked up the phone and dialled Olivia's home number, then her cell phone. There was no answer on either, so he decided to go to her apartment. "Cover for me," he said to Fin and Munch. They nodded and he headed out.

"Olivia, it's Elliot, open the door!" Elliot pounded his fist on Olivia's door, but there was no answer from inside.

"She's probably at work, that girl is never home." And elderly woman had poked her head out her door to see what all the noise was.

"I work with her but she didn't come in this morning, have you seen her?" Elliot asked.

"I'm afraid not," the woman said. Elliot thanked her and she went back into her apartment.

Elliot looked around for a spare key that Olivia might have hidden but he found nothing. She probably wasn't the type of person to risk having a spare key anywhere near her door. He stood there for several minutes, trying to make up his mind, then finally stepped back and kicked in the door, hoping Olivia wouldn't kick his ass later for breaking her door. When he stepped into the apartment he took a quick look around but there was no sign of Olivia. He wondered if she had spent the night somewhere else. Again he tried calling her cell phone but there was no answer. He left another message.

He saw the message light flashing on the phone in her living room and pressed the button to play them back. There was one from him asking where she was, one from Cragen saying she better have a damn good reason for skipping out on work, and one from a voice he didn't recognize. But it wasn't meant for Olivia; the man on the other end was talking to Elliot.

"We knew you'd be listening to these eventually, she told me. She knows, she can read people. She knows what you people will do to save one of your own, but it doesn't matter. You're never gonna find her." There was silence for a moment, then Elliot heard a faint screaming and his heart dropped. The message ended and Elliot raced out of the building and back to the station.

"Elliot, what's up?" Cragen asked when Elliot flung open the door to his office.

"She gone, they kidnapped Olivia, he left a message on her phone, she was screaming." He let out a stream of information, unable to properly process it all.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! We have to find her!"

"Alright, calm down. Get her description out, have everyone out there looking for her. Call Lake; tell him his time off is up. I'll send CSU to her apartment to look for any information and see what they can do with the message. We'll check through her old case files and see if we can find anything useful."

"It was Christiana and Greg, it has to be them," Elliot insisted.

"Alright, we'll check them out first. Fin and I'll go talk to Matthew and Travis, see if they can tell us anything useful."

Elliot nodded and told the other detectives what was going on. They got on the phones and gave Olivia's description out. Cragen and Fin talked to Matt and Travis, but neither of them had any idea where Christy might have gone. By the time they got back to the precinct the news of Olivia's disappearance had reached the media and hundreds of fake tips were being phoned in.

"This is a total waste, nothin' but crazies callin' about alien abductions," Fin said irritably.

"We might have something. Woman says she saw a guy getting into a car not far from Liv's apartment carrying a woman in his arms. It was dark, but the woman he was carrying definitely had a gun strapped to her waist. We got a plate number. Phoned it in, it was reported stolen two days ago, could be out guy," Lake said.

They put out on APB on the silver four-door and found it less than an hour later abandoned in a store parking lot. "CSU matched the hairs in the car, Olivia was definitely in it. And they found fibres on the seat consistent with rope, meaning she was probably tied up," Warner told Elliot and Munch. "They also found some blood on the steering wheel. The driver must have cut his hand on something. I ran the DNA, it's a match to Gregory Douglas."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Olivia suddenly jerked awake in a panic. She had fallen asleep with her head resting on her knees. She was terrified of going to sleep in case she fall into the water again, but she seemed pretty steady in her current position so, despite the ache in her back, she let her head rest on her knees again and closed her eyes.

When she awoke again it was pitch black. Olivia had never been afraid of the dark, but she was completely terrified. She had wished over and over again that she didn't have to look at the rotting body parts, but now that she couldn't see them she felt even more disgusted. Her clothes were still damp and it was getting colder, making her whole body shiver. She felt like she would lose the last ounce of sanity she had left if the lights didn't come back on soon. Needing to hear something more than her own shaky breathing or her teeth chattering, she started to hum anything and everything that came to mind.

"You have a lovely voice," a cool female voice called down. Olivia looked up for the source of the voice and was blinded by the beam of a powerful flashlight. She turned away quickly, then shielded her eyes and tried pointlessly to look up again.

"What the hell do you want?" She screamed at the person above her.

"Think about it, Olivia." She recognized the voice. She hadn't heard it properly the first time because she had been humming and hadn't expected the noise, but now she could hear it perfectly.

"Christy? No. Why are you doing this?" It was impossible, why would Christy do such a thing? They had been best friends!

"You were always a selfish little bitch. Curtis was the most popular guy in school next to Travis; you just had to have him. But when you realized Travis liked you, you just tossed him aside without a second thought. You destroyed him!"

"No, that's not it at all! _He_ asked _me_ out, it had nothing to do with how popular he was! And Travis was the one who kissed _me_, I never meant to hurt Curtis!"

"Oh, poor you, everyone plotting against poor little Olivia. The second most popular boy in school asked you out, poor you. Then the most popular boy in school kissed you, practically _begged_ you to go out with him, how did you have cope? And then when Travis suddenly wasn't his cheerful self anymore you ditched him when he needed you most!"

"NO!" Olivia screamed. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"Your story is bullshit. You knew Travis wanted to go out with you, that's why you went to his house. You didn't stop having feelings for Curtis; you _never_ had feelings for him. And when he found out it broke his heart!"

"No, that's not true, I loved Curtis, he just wasn't the one for me. And he said he was fine, he said he wanted me to be happy!"

"But when he found out the truth it crushed him."

"Found out…what? What do you mean 'when he found out the truth'? That _is_ the truth!"

"No, it's bullshit! You just told everybody that to make you look good!"

"Oh no, Christy, you didn't. You told him all that? How could you?!"

"You're damn right I told him, he had a right to know! I wasn't going to, you know, I figured Travis would come to his senses eventually, but when I found out you were engaged I knew I couldn't let it go on anymore."

"You bitch! That was a fucking lie! Curtis wasn't depressed, you MADE him depressed, you fucking bitch _You killed him_!" She was furious; she didn't even care about being trapped anymore, or that Christy panned to kill her. None of it mattered. Curtis had been her best friend, her first lover, and his death had ruined everyone's lives.

"No, I didn't kill Curtis, you killed him. I just told him the truth about what you did and he couldn't take it!"

"No, no, no, NO! You lied to him!" Olivia broke into sobs again. She always thought Curtis had died because he loved her so much. It had made her feel incredibly guilty, but something about it also made her feel good in a way. At least she knew he cared about her. But this changed everything. He must have hated her, must have felt used and rejected. Now suddenly she felt like the guilt would tear her apart.

"You deserve to die for what you did. I hope you rot in this fucking hole." The light suddenly vanished and Olivia sank back onto the crate with her legs pulled up to her chest, sobbing quietly. Eventually she cried herself to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Elliot was going out of his mind with worry. Every lead they had came up in a dead end. Christy had no ties in New York that they could find and they couldn't find any useful information about her life in Chicago. He was sure Matt and Travis weren't involved, but they had checked both of them out, too. Neither of them supplied any useful information.

"Elliot! Elliot!" Elliot looked up to see Matt rushing towards him.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I have an idea. I know it sounds crazy, but when we were kids we had this really awesome fort by Christy's dad's house, it was in these thick woods. She always came up with the passwords. You know, 'cause we had to have passwords just to complete the whole fort aspect. There were no other kids around, we didn't really need the password, it just made it seem more like a fort. You know what's it like when you're a kid…"

"Matt! Get to the point," Elliot interrupted, getting annoyed.

"Right, sorry. Anyway, Christy always made the password some Disney character, 'cause she was obsessed with Disney. I know it sounds stupid, but I just remembered something: there was this guy a while back that used to stalk her. He never did anything, but he really creeped her out, so whenever she checked into a hotel she would check in under the name of some Disney character, like and alias. I was just looking around the hotel, gathering up the stuff she left behind, and I found this." He handed Elliot a piece of paper.

It was a letter. Elliot read it over quickly:

Gaston,

Everything is in place. Don't worry, nothing can be traced back. I had to register, but I took care of it. We'll stay long enough to see it, then we'll split together. Get the car, the one I told you about, and use the phone I gave you. I'll meet you there.

Love,

Aurora.

On the bottom of the page was another short note.

Aurora,

Just checked it out, it's perfect. Patched up some of the handholds like you said, it's smooth as a baby's ass. See you soon.

Gaston.

"Gaston and Aurora?" Elliot said, looking up.

"Gaston was the egomaniac from Beauty and the Beast and Aurora's the princess from Sleeping Beauty. She said she registered, I bet it was for some kind of warehouse space. And I bet she used another Disney alias, it wouldn't be that difficult."

"There are thousands of names she could be using, how are we supposed to know which one it is?" Lake asked. He had been reading the note over Elliot's shoulder.

"I'll bet anything she's using the name Mary Costa," Matt said.

"What Disney character was that?" Fin asked.

"She was the voice of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. It was the name on her fake i.d. when she was 15 and she used to tell teachers that was her name when she got in trouble."

The detectives quickly got to work searching for anything registered under Christy's alias. "Here, warehouse in Brooklyn, rented out by Mary Costa." Munch scribbled down the address and handed it to Elliot. He snatched it and raced out of the building, Cragen and the other detectives on his heels. They all drove to the warehouse with their lights flashing while Casey raced to get a warrant from a judge who owed her a favour. She was worried she wouldn't get it because they had no real evidence, but the judge had no problem signing it, knowing they were looking for one of their own detectives.

Cragen didn't wait for Casey to confirm the warrant. He grabbed the bolt cutters he had thrown into his trunk and quickly snapped the lock. "Don't came any closer or she's dead!" A female voice called out from the darkness. Everyone froze.

Elliot could just barely make out the figures standing infront of them. There were two people standing right next to each other. They both had guns pointed at the ground. Elliot tried to make out what they were aiming at, but it just looked like a pile of boards. "You're not going to take us both out. Come in here and we both shoot."

"Where is she?" Elliot called to them.

"In the hole," the man standing behind Christy said. Elliot assumed it was Greg.

"Why are you doing this, Christy?" Cragen and Elliot had their guns raised but Greg was as thin as a toothpick and shorter than Christy, so he was well hidden. He would have time to shoot Olivia if either of them pulled the trigger. The detectives behind them wouldn't fire over their captain's head.

"She deserves to die for what she did. If she's not going to rot in that hole I'll kill her myself."

"Don't do this, Christy. We can all walk out of here alive. No one's been hurt here; the DA'll go easy on you. Just put down the gun," Cragen said calmly.

"The second either of you pull the trigger every gun in here is gonna fire. It's up to you whether or not you leave here," Elliot said.

"We're gonna die?" Greg sounded panicked. "I don't wanna die, Christy."

"Shut up!" She snapped.

"You said everything would be fine, you said they couldn't find us!"

"I said shut up!"

"No, no way, I don't wanna die!" He dropped his gun and bolted. Christy fired and there was a loud splash. Elliot and Cragen both fired at the same time, landing one bullet in her chest and another in her head. Lake and Fin chased after Greg while Cragen and Elliot ran to the hole in the ground where Olivia was now on her knees in the putrid water, clutching her gushing abdomen.

"We need rope and medics in here now!" Cragen yelled to the backup that had arrived. The paramedics came and they tossed some gauze down for Olivia to put on the wound.

"You think you can hold on to a rope?" Elliot called down to Olivia.

"No," she said, gritting her teeth in pain. The gauze she was holding against her would was already bright red and she was feeling light-headed.

"Is that what I think it is?" Cragen said to Elliot, looking down at the severed head.

"Shit," he said under his breath.

The fire department came with a simple harness and a thick rope. Olivia's vision was going blurry and she let just barely managed to get the harness on. Elliot and Cragen pulled her up and the medics rushed her to the ambulance. Elliot climbed in and rode with her to the hospital.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Olivia expected to see Elliot when she opened her eyes, but she was surprised to see Matt pacing at the foot of her bed and Travis sleeping in a chair in the corner. "Matt?"

"Hey, you're awake! I hope you don't mind, we make Elliot go home." He smiled.

"Good, his marriage is rocky enough without him spending the night here with me."

"How're you feeling?"

"Like I spent nearly two days in human soup and then got shot by an old friend after discovering that she was responsible for the death of my former best friend. I think that's a pretty accurate description of how I'm feeling right now." She let out a deep sigh.

Matt frowned. "What did Christy tell you?"

Olivia reluctantly recounted everything Christy had told her. Tears started streaming down her face as she spoke and she tried to wipe them away but it was useless. Matt sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her, kissing the top of her head. "Christy had a lot of mental problems, Liv. I know you never saw any of it, but it's true. It doesn't matter what Christy thinks happened, you know the truth."

"He hated me, Matt. He thought I did all those horrible things, that's why he killed himself. He was my best friend…" Her voice cracked as she spoke and Matt wrapped his arms around her.

"It's not your fault. If Christy hadn't lied to him he'd still be alive. He would have moved on."

"I gave up everything. I left Travis because of what happened. I refused to get close to anyone because I was afraid of what would happen."

"Well, at least I was right about you."

Olivia punched him in the arm. He laughed, rubbing his arm where she had hit him. "You don't have to be such an insensitive jerk!"

"No, I don't _have_ to be. I know you're upset, Olivia, but the fact remains that we can't change what happened no matter how much we want to."

"You seem pretty cheerful for someone who just lost a close friend."

"Christy wasn't a close friend. We haven't been close for 15 years. We saw each other for the first time in 2 years a few months before all this stuff started happening, and we had both changed too much to really get along. Travis is the only person I stayed connected with after high school."

"You're not sad she's dead at all, are you?"

"Honestly? No. I mean, it's sad when anyone you know dies, but after what she did I'm sure as hell not gonna shed any tears over her. Are you?"

Olivia looked down and was silent for a minute, and then shook her head. "No, I'm really not." She looked at Matt. "I sure know how to pick my friends, huh?"

"Travis is an alcoholic and a cocky bastard and Christy tried to kill you, but if you'll recall I'm still completely normal."

"That's a matter of opinion," she said, attempting a smile.

Matt smiled. "You know, I really missed you over the years. I tried calling you hundreds of times but I was always afraid. I kept thinking 'what's she like? Is she married? Does she have ten kids?' But I could never work up the courage to actually find the answers."

"You thought I'd have ten kids?"

"Whenever anyone asked you about your future that was the only thing you ever talked about: having kids, working with kids. I guess my mind just made the assumption."

"Well, I do work with kids on a fairly regular basis. It's not really what I had in mind, though."

"Did you ever…wonder about us?"

"You mean did I ever wonder about you?"

"Well of course, but the 'us' makes me sound less conceited."

"Yeah, I did, but never enough to go looking for you. I mostly just wanted to know about your hair." She smiled.

He laughed. "I was curious about yours, too. I certainly didn't expect such a drastic change." He ran his fingers through her hair.

Olivia closed her eyes for a minute, then shook her head. "I can't do this, Matt."

"Do what?" He asked.

"I can't just forget about what happened to Curtis and Christy. I can't just put aside all the history and all the years between us."

"We can start over."

Olivia sighed. "Just leave, Matt. Please."

Matt stared at her for a minute before standing up. He shook Travis awake. "Come on. Let's leave her be, she's not feeling well."

"What, I can't even say two words to her?"

"I'll call you when I get home," she assured them both.

Matt nodded and dragged Travis from the hospital room.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

Olivia called Matt and Travis just as she promised, but they talked very little after that. Travis moved to New York to be close to Matt, since he didn't have anyone else to lean on. He decided to enter AA. It wasn't hard for Olivia to distance herself from both of them once she was back at work. She recovered quickly from her wound with only a small scar on her abdomen. Elliot tried not to worry about her too much, but it was a long time before he let her go home alone again.

**Sequel coming soon.**


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